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Number 20 / Volume 16 / December 16, 2002

Taken as a whole, the stories in this issue of RE$EARCH MONEY provide an advance snapshot of the direction that Canadian S&T will be moving in the new year. Although the image is still blurry, one can discern a growing willingness by all sectors in the innovation system to boost R&D spending and tackle barriers to increased productivity and prosperity.

The Government of New Brunswick is moving quickly on a comprehensive Innovation Agenda designed to raise its R&D performance from near the bottom of the Canadian ranking into the top four provinces by 2012.

The long upward climb of total R&D spending in Canada appears to have stalled, posing a serious challenge to Ottawa as it attempts to gear up the nation to become one of the world’s top five R&D jurisdictions.

An unexplained drop in foreign support for higher education research has marred an otherwise upbeat projection of funding for Canada’s universities, technology colleges and other post-secondary institutions.

The federal government has announced a unique, $60-million investment in a massive R&D project for broadband applications that holds the potential for establishing a major new cluster in the Ottawa region.

The Council of Science and Technology Advisors (CSTA) has weighed in on the contentious issue of the federal government’s S&T workforce and calls for speedy reform on several fronts or risk “failure to fulfill its fundamental mandates and its role in the national innovation system”.

Statistics Canada and the science and technology community are losing one of their most accomplished proponents with the retirement of Bert Plaus. Plaus is ending a 28-year career in which he made a major contribution to the relatively new field of S&T indicators and influenced the way in which those indicators are measured internationally.

NeteraNet getting $1 million upgrade

BuildDirect launches e-commerce research project

People

Dr Gijs van Rooijen

Dr Paul Vincett

Bert Plaus

Number 19 / Volume 16 / December 2, 2002

No one can fault the delegates to the National Innovation Summit for departing from the event with a renewed sense of optimism. For the first time since the consultations were launched, innovation, skills and learning finally seemed to be on the national agenda.

Better access to risk capital, a stronger emphasis on commercialization, a permanent program for the indirect costs of university research and much altered R&D tax credits emerged as central recommendations stemming from the marathon brain storming session at the National Innovation Summit.

The government’s primary vehicle for national science and technology advice has been raised from the dead. More than a year after its last official meeting, the Advisory Council on Science and Technology (ACST) met with Industry minister Alan Rock the day before the National Innovation Summit in Toronto.

The winds of change continue to blow through the corridors of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) as the 120-year-old institution works to expand its focus and adapt to the needs of a modern knowledge-based society.

Three ideas aimed at shrinking the commercialization gap for biotechnology and biopharmaceutical products appear to be on converging trajectories as the life sciences and biotechnology industries seek to secure major new investments and regulatory changes for their struggling sectors.

A framework agreement hammered out between the federal government and Canada’s universities commits institutions of higher learning to double the amount they currently spend on research and triple their commercialization performance by 2010.

Conference Board issues corporate innovation index

Virtual Classroom connects Canada and Hong Kong

People

Paul Johnston

Dr Camille Limoges

John MacDonald

Number 18 / Volume 16 / November 18, 2002

Few will argue that Canada is desperately in need of a national S&T policy. The Holy Grail of this week’s national innovation summit is a national innovation and learning action plan that’s realistic, ambitious and above all achievable.

An influential task force led by Roger Martin has issued its first annual report with four key recommendations for how Ontario can begin to eliminate the province’s so-called prosperity gap. The task force calls for changes in marginal tax rates, increased investment in post-secondary education and infrastructure, a recognition of the importance of urban centres and heightened aspirations by the population as a whole.

Venture capital (VC) investment is showing the possible early signs of recovery after a disastrous second quarter this year. The latest data from Macdonald & Associates Ltd on behalf of the Canadian Venture Capital Association show that investment experienced a quarter-over-quarter increase of 7% to $475 million.

Ron Freedman

Who are the Innovators?
By Ron Freedman

There are three important questions that innovation analysts and policymakers still don’t have a good handle on with regard to industrial innovation: “Who? Is doing what? Where?” See if you know the answer to the following questions.

The University of Ottawa is lining up partners and funding for a $40-45-million Proteomics Research Institute that would open in 2004 and be modeled on the National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) at the Univ of Alberta.

After years of planning and lobbying, the Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre (CPFC) is now a certainty, with the official announcement of $43 million in federal and provincial funding over five years.

Canada’s innovation strategy lacks an international context and fails to account for the impact of an increasing number of nations adopting similar approaches to growing their economies, argues a comprehensive new paper prepared for the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC).

Consultation for Innovation Strategy cost $7.5 million

Chairs program awards funding for 123 new chairs

People

Constance Hearty

Rocco Delvecchio

Chris Arsenault

Number 17 / Volume 16 / November 4, 2002

One can forgive the confusion swirling through the federal S&T community in the wake of the decision to yank FINE from going forward for Cabinet consideration. The FINE proposal – short for Federal Innovation Networks of Excellence – was supposed to be the magic bullet that would break the funding logjam that has bedeviled the government’s science-based departments and agencies (SBDAs) since the mid 1990s.

The federal government’s best chance for transforming the way it performs science and technology (S&T) appears to have been cut off at the knees just weeks before the submission of a memorandum to Cabinet (MC) seeking approval of new funds.

Federal expenditures on scientific activity are surging ahead once again this year and the latest estimates indicate that the vast majority of increased funding continues to flow to the university sector.

Technology development and innovation are being touted as a major component of Canada’s strategy for meeting its commitments under the Kyoto climate change protocol. The first widely publicized indications of how the federal government plans to use science and technology (S&T) in the battle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is contained in Achieving Our Commitments Together, Ottawa’s draft plan for its national implementation strategy released October 25.

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) would be the third largest beneficiary under a proposed new federal surtax on health care. If approved by Parliament, the agency’s share of the surtax would boost its budget by $440 million annually.

BCIT joins BCNET as ORAN launched

People

Dr Roman Maev

Dr Richard Isnor

Elizabeth Dowdeswell

Dr Gilles Patry 2002

Dr Gerald Karam

Number 16 / Volume 16 / October 21, 2002

Targets are useful tools. They help to focus debate, concentrate effort and provide a rallying point that everyone can get behind. But what happens when targets set by governments are unrealistic, as is the case for many of those created for Canada’s innovation performance?

It’s been nearly two years since Canada’s innovation targets were first announced.

Ontario’s largest university continues to occupy the number one spot for sponsored research income while Quebec’s two biggest post-secondary institutions are the most research intensive, according to new data released this week.

The Alberta Ingenuity Fund (AIF) has launched its flagship Research Centres program with the funding of two centres at the Univ of Alberta (U of A). It marks the beginning of AIF’s objective of creating up to 15 centres focusing on areas of research considered strategic to the province’s future economic growth and well being.

Dr John de la Mothe

Innovation Redux?
By Dr John de la Mothe

Innovation — the production of new knowledge and the commercialization of ideas — is central to the continuing development of industrial nations. Every state of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) believes this.

The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) has issued a wake up call to the federal government, warning that its much vaunted innovation targets are unattainable unless university research spending triples over the next nine years.

The federal S&T community is primed for new challenges but it may have to face them without significant new resources. The uneasy balance between opportunity and fiscal constraint provided a potent undercurrent to a recent two-day federal S&T forum near Ottawa earlier this month.

NRC launches $10-million nutraceuticals program

Angiotech acquires California -based Cohesion

OLSC announces business case winners

People

John Schwenk

Murray Stewart

Dr Patricia Béretta

Number 15 / Volume 16 / October 7, 2002

Canada’s strategy for becoming a global leader in biotechnology is about to receive a major endorsement with the imminent decision by DSM Biologics to double its Montreal bioprocessing facility. Although the deal isn’t final, construction crews are already preparing the site on land leased from its neighbour, the National Research Council’s Biotechnology Research Institute.

Montreal is set to benefit from the largest biotechnology investment in Canadian history with an imminent decision by DSM Biologics to green light a $450-million expansion to its bio-manufacturing facility.

The Alberta government has unveiled an ambitious proposal for a new approach to energy research in Canada, one that includes new multi-year funding commitments from government and industry and the creation of a new network linking provincial, national and global researchers.

The Observatoire des sciences et des technologies (OST) is about to be merged with a research unit of the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). The move is the apparent culmination of a bitter powerplay between the two principal researchers at OST, Canada’s premier organization for producing and measuring bibliometric science and technology (S&T) indicators.

The decision by DSM Biologics to double its bio-manufacturing capacity in Montreal has given the tri-government initiative to increase life sciences activity in the region an early and significant victory.

Calgary aims to be top intelligent community

CANARIE funds two e-learning projects

People

Bradley Ashley

Dr Martha Salcudean

Richard May

Number 14 / Volume 16 / September 16, 2002

If there’s a time when the innovation agenda needs a champion, it’s now. Buffeted by an R&D spending downturn and the backroom maneuvering of Liberal leadership hopefuls, the prospect of a dynamic, effective innovation strategy appears to be losing momentum.

Concern is mounting that Ottawa’s much vaunted innovation agenda is running into trouble as it heads into the final stretch. The one-day national summit slated for November 5th in Toronto has been re-scheduled for later in the month — likely the 18th or 19th — amidst fears that innovation is rapidly slipping down the federal government’s list of priorities.

The Quebec government has issued its first progress report on the implementation of its new science and innovation policy, demonstrating why the province is leading all Canadian jurisdictions for progressive and inclusive S&T policy that spans all sectors of society.

The first report the Roger Martin-led Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic Progress will serve as the centerpiece for a provincially staged innovation summit to be held November 5 in Toronto.

Industry Canada is taking the first steps towards fulfilling its revised commitment to universal broadband access with the announcement of a $105-million Broadband for Rural and Northern Development Pilot Program.

Dr Brian Barge

4th Pillar Enablers and Multipliers
By Dr Brian Barge

Canadians are rallying around the Innovation Strategy introduced last February by the federal government. They are participating in regional discussions, proposing ideas, responding to challenges and setting objectives so that Canada can achieve its potential as an innovating nation.

Government bureaucrats will be few and far between at the national innovation summit, leaving the central focus on the business and academic sectors. The focus on two of the three major pillars of innovation is consistent with the thrust of the process to date, which has seen federal laboratories virtually locked out of the discussions.

Small- and medium-sized companies are positioning themselves as the future engines of R&D growth. A recent report on corporate R&D spending in Canada shows that in FY01, many smaller firms posted substantial increases in R&D spending despite a drop in revenues.

Observers say the prominent exposure afforded the work of Roger Martin and his Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic Progress indicates the strategic direction of the new ministry under the leadership of Jim Flaherty.

The issue of voluntary labeling has dominated reaction a major report on the regulation of genetically modified (GM) foods in spite of the inclusion of 43 other recommendations. The final report by the Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee (CBAC) includes input to CBAC’s interim report released last fall (R$, September 24/01).

CATA Town Hall meetings to resume this month

AAAS in Ottawa for meetings next month

Conference to address technician skills shortage

People

Robert Webb

Dr Henry Mantsch

Dr Jinzi Jason

Number 13 / Volume 16 / August 30, 2002

The selection process used for the first competition under the Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF) once again raises serious questions about the often awkward relationship between determining scientific excellence and the federal government’s role in regional development.

The Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF) has awarded $154.7 million to kick-start 47 R&D projects worth $359 million, including eight added to the list after the advisory board delivered its recommendations.

Investment activity by the Canadian venture capital (VC) industry crashed in flames during the second quarter of this year, shot down by the telecommunications meltdown, slumping public markets and shrinking foreign investment.

Broadband connectivity, assistance for commercialization, access to capital and a coordinated investment strategy emerged as some of the major themes at Industry Canada’s regional summit for Central Eastern Ontario.

The highly anticipated federal Science & Technology Review of 1994 descended into a public relations exercise for delivering election promises and minimizing the S&T cutbacks associated with Program Review, according to a new content analysis of more than 500 original documents.

Joyce Groote

Where Will the Science Go?

By Joyce Groote

Research generated from federal R&D investment has and will continue to provide promising new technologies and products. These in turn provide the foundation for the creation of new start-up companies.

The Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) has joined a growing chorus of organizations calling for refundability under the federal tax incentive program for R&D expenditures to be extended to all companies.

The Communication Research Centre (CRC) has successfully thwarted a legal attack against its most lucrative invention, the first time in history the federal government has defended a patent generated by a government laboratory.

Genome Atlantic (GA) has received a $9-million cash infusion from the Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF), as part of a $23-million funding package for four R&D projects in the region. GA has now received $29 million in funds, with the largest portion coming from Genome Canada ($14 million).

ITAC pushes for fibre links at border

TPC invests $6.4 millionin Intrinsyc Software

Guelph seeks new agbiotech funding

People

Dr Christopher Loomis

Mike Lazaridis

Number 12 / Volume 16 / July 29, 2002

Two of Canada’s most respected research organizations are pushing to have an even greater impact on the nation’s innovative capacity. The Canadian Microelectronics Corp (CMC) and Precarn Inc are both massaging their strategic directions and seeking new funding sources as the federal government prepares to launch a national innovation strategy (see pages 3 & 5).

The Canadian Microelectronics Corp is participating in a proposal to the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE)to develop laboratories on a chip The Network is seeking $7 million annually and will focus primarily on biomedical and environmental applications, as well as security, forensics and social policy.

Precarn Inc is looking to expand its funding base as intelligent systems and robotics expand their influence and become enabling technologies for a wide variety of sectors. Currently half way through a five-year, $20-million grant from Industry Canada, the Ottawa-based, not-for-profit national consortium is hoping that a higher profile and an extensive outreach program will bring in new funding collaborators while it ramps up discussions with the federal government to provide stable funding.

Maureen O’Neil

Equity — The Lasting Message from Rio
By Maureen O’Neil

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) — the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 — reaffirmed the plain truth that human well-being and healthy ecosystems are inextricably linked.

The Canadian Microelectronics Corp (CMC) is hoping to strengthen its role as a key research engine for national innovation and competitiveness. It has broadened its strategic direction to reflect the rapid convergence disciplines in which microchips and microsystems play a critical role.

The federal government’s cost recovery policy for regulatory programs stifles science-based innovation and a Treasury Board (TB) draft paper outlining a new policy is only compounding the problem. The result is reduced R&D investment, fewer science-based jobs and lost sales of nearly half a billion dollars.

The R&D-to-sales ratio for the patented pharmaceutical industry in 2001 was the lowest in 10 years despite a healthy 12.6% increase in R&D spending, pushing the industry total to more than $1 billion for the first time.

NRC to build two new aerospace facilities

iFire enters technology collaboration with Sanyo

Correction

People

Douglas Beatty

Dr Douglas Stephan

Andy Gilliland

Number 11 / Volume 16 / July 8, 2002

Like a slow moving freight train, Ottawa’s innovation agenda is gathering speed and on track to reach its first destination in Toronto this November. The leisurely pace of progress in developing an effective innovation strategy is dictated in part by the need to consult widely with all relevant players.

Canada’s stature in the international research community is certain to get a major boost with the announcement of funding for nine major projects aimed at increasing Canadian research infrastructure and providing access for Canadian researchers to international facilities.

Canada’s colleges are putting the finishing touches on a proposal to the federal government for $116 million a year to fund dedicated programs and other mechanisms to enhance their ability to conduct applied research and engage in technology transfer and commercialization.

An authoritative new report on the Canadian fuel cell industry is calling on the federal government to move quickly and establish a national strategy for the sector or risk losing Canada’s early dominance to rapidly gaining competitors.

Federal and provincial S&T ministers have agreed to meet following the national innovation summit this November to continue discussions on how they can increase Canada’s innovation capacity.

The ministers met late last month in Vancouver but the official release only contained vague generalities such as the “need for early progress” and addressing the issue of indirect costs for university research, “the environment for biotechnology” and developing criteria for successful federal-provincial-territorial partnering.

CANARIE Inc is confident that the financial troubles of the companies contracted to build its newest broadband network for the research community won’t have a negative impact. CA*net 4 is virtually complete and will be switched on in less than one month, says CANARIE officials and the organization will then take responsibility for operating the network.